Sir Ed and me

Sir Edmund Hillary has died.
In this small country, where there seems to be 3 degrees of separation instead of 6, everyone has a connection to Sir Ed, as he is affectionately called. Here are mine:
• I can't claim to have ever met him, but he lived about 2 miles away and I drive by his house every day on my way to work, if that counts.
• His casket was driven to the cemetery at the end of my street.
• His wife was an Old Girl (alumni) of my school, and their daughter attended my school until age 16 when both perished in a plane crash in Nepal on a visit to see Ed. That was 30 years ago. There is still a Nepalese painting hanging in the school library, donated in honour of Louise and Belinda Hillary.
• My next-door neighbour was acquainted with Sir Ed and more specifically his (second) wife, June: June's sister worked for my neighbour, so they would all get together for a BBQ or whatever. Imagine, Sir Ed has been next door for a sausage sizzle.

Besides admitting to having only the slightest connection between Sir Ed and me, I can also admit to a dearth of similarities between Sir Ed and me.
Ed climbed Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in the world.

I climbed Rangitoto, a volcanic island in Auckland's harbour.




After conquering Everest, he said "We knocked the bastard off"
After huffing and puffing to the top of Rangitoto, I said "Who's idea was this?"

It must have taken Ed days/weeks/months to

travel by ship to India, then over land to Nepal, then walked to Base Camp, Camp 1, etc. until he got to the top.

I had a pleasurable forty-five minute ferry ride from Auckland, and hiked for a few hours.

Ed wore crampons on his boots.

I wore Teva sandals.

The temperature was below zero when Ed climbed Mt. Everest.

It was about 15ºC/60ºF when I hiked Rangitoto.

During his climb, Ed probably said encouraging things like, "Keep going, we can do it!"

During my hike I complained and belly-ached and said things like, "I'm too old for this!"

Ed was 33.

I was 50.

Ed had trouble breathing because of the altitude.

I had trouble breathing because I was out of shape.

From the top of Everest, Ed had a view of everything on Earth.

From the top of Rangitoto, I had a gorgeous view of Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf.

Back at Camp 4, Ed and Tenzig probably had a cuppa tea.

On Rangitoto, I drank bottled water. It was ice cold, and very refreshing.

Afterwards, part of the mountain was named after him: the Hillary Step.

I got nothing.

Here's what I like about Sir Ed: It's not that he was the first to reach the top of Mt. Everest, or raced to the South Pole, or gave all his money to the needy in Nepal. No, it's that he went to palaces and mansions, met royalty and millionaires and - as he described it - never saw much to envy, let alone emulate. I like that he's called Sir Ed. Most of all, I am impressed that his name is listed in the phone book under "Hillary, Sir Edmund." That says everything about him and about this country.

Act II, Scene 1: The newlyweds arrive

MONDAY - Carlin & Kristen arrived to spend the next 2 weeks with us. On their first night in NZ, we took them for a drive to the neighbourhood beach and on the way back, I gave Carlin his first driving lesson for driving on the left. It always sounds scarier than it is; people usually get the hang of it within a few days. He did fine.

TUESDAY - Curt and I had to go to work today so we sent the intrepid travellers off to explore Auckland on their own. They even put gas in my car and did the grocery shopping! I think I'm going to like having them around.

That evening, we took them to One Tree Hill for a great view of Auckland from sea to sea. New Zealand is so narrow at this spot that you can see both east and west coasts. Kristen especially liked the sheep who eat the grass on One Tree Hill (instead of using lawnmowers). We stopped at a fence and tried to entice a sheep near us, but it wasn't interested.

Back at the house, they played Scrabble while I marked papers. Curt won the Scrabble game, of course. Poor Kristen didn't realise she was marrying into a ruthless Scrabble family.

WEDNESDAY - Carlin & Kristen came to my school today for morning teatime to meet my colleagues. Then they went to Newmarket to shop (it's the ritzy shopping area), and finally they met Curt for a picnic lunch. He took them to Winter Garden, a beautiful setting in the the huge domain (park) near his office.

I've been feeling a little lost at work concerning my English class, not knowing what they did while I was gone, or what I'm supposed to be teaching them now that I'm back. Since I only teach one class, I'm often out of the loop. Well today, I got a bombshell. The head of the English Dept came to the library to see me and asked how I was doing. "You do know that reports (report cards) are due tomorrow morning, don't you?" What? I had no idea. Somehow, I thought Dec 6 was the due date for reports. Oh my. I started entering scores right away, but knew it would take me HOURS.

On top of that, I got a call from the HR guy at my school. I had applied for a job as a Social Studies teacher on Monday, and they wanted to interview me. This was good news ... but the interview was the following day, and I had to prepare a sample lesson plan. It looked like I was going to be up all night.

I would've preferred to skip choir practice and work on my reports, but Carlin was coming to practice a song with the choir so I felt I should be there. I was the one who got him roped into this in the first place. The poor guy. His own mother had talked him into performing with the choir on viola while he was here on his honeymoon. I am shameless. In my defence, I was imagining a simple hymn where he could just pick out a nice harmony line, but our director chose a longer and far more complicated song which Carlin would have to practice. (The choir was going to need lots of practice, too) At least Carlin and Kristen got to meet some of the choir folk who have been so good to us, and they were all pleased to hear him play.

Back at the house, I was madly writing reports while Carlin and Kristen played a "friendly game" of Scrabble (read: not always friendly). Eventually, everyone went to bed except me. I stayed up till 1:00 a.m. finishing stupid reports, and preparing for my job interview the next day. At least I wouldn't have to go to work the following day. I was taking it off because it was American Thanksgiving. I'd been hoping to do some sightseeing with Carlin and Kristen, but instead I would be going to a job interview ... and shopping and cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

THURSDAY (THANKSGIVING) -
Prepared a few dishes for the Thanksgiving feast that morning before I went to the job interview at 11:00. It seemed to go pretty well. I think it was more than a courtesy interview, at least. They were impressed with the student work samples I brought, including the packet of instructions all laid out for the kids - timeline, grading rubric, parent signature, etc. They liked my IT skills, too. Fingers crossed.

On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store for more turkey day supplies, but still couldn't find pumpkin pie or Durkee's French Fried Onion Rings, a necessary ingredient for the traditional Green Bean Casserole (Carlin's favourite). Eventually found a recipe to make my own french fried onion rings which was amazingly easy! As for pumpkin pie ... I decided to skip it. I don't even like pumpkin pie so I wasn't inclined to make one from scratch. Sent Carlin and Kristen to the store to buy an alternative dessert. They wisely chose something chocolate.

Made the usual turkey, stuffing, etc. but added a bit of Kiwi culture by using kumara as the sweet potato dish. When Curt got home, he started the tates and gravy. Mmmm. My favourite part. Kristen and Carlin put extra leaves in the dining room table, for we had invited our neighbours over for an authentic American Thanksgiving.

Our neighbours, Bruce and Annette and their two boys Sam (8) and Nick (6) arrived in time for some traditional pre-dinner Thanksgiving colouring: Carlin taught the boys how to make an outline of their hand and turn it into a turkey. They were suitably impressed and created some masterpieces of their own. Sam was also impressed when Carlin played a few songs on the piano for him. Sam had recently started taking piano lessons, and it was fun for him to see how years of practice could pay off. He even fetched some of his music and played for us. Sam and Nick also kept busy playing with our giant tub of Legos. It was nice to see that little boys of this generation are still enthralled with Legos, like my boys were. We explained the background of the Thanksgiving holiday to everyone, how the Pilgrims would've all starved to death their first year without help from the Indians, etc. And of course, we ate too much. But it sure was good.

After dinner, we all needed to go for a walk and burn off some of those calories, so Bruce and Annette grabbed their dog and we all went to a nearby parkland. Carlin threw the tennis ball for the dog, a golden retriever who reminded us of Duffy, the dog he'd grown up with. The little boys chased each other and ran off steam, while the adults enjoyed the conversation and the serene setting. It was a perfect way to end a lovely day.

Last year, we didn't do anything on Thanksgiving; it was just another day at work for us. So this year it was nice to have Carlin and Kristen here, and it was a prefect excuse to put on a big Thanksgiving dinner. And inviting our friends to be a part of our American holiday made it even more special.

FRIDAY - Went to work at 7:30 and got a call from the HR guy at 8:00 offerring me the Social Studies job! The Humanities Dept loved me, apparently. I was applying for a part-time position, but they wanted to know if I would take the full-time position instead. I had been hoping to teach part-time and still work in the library part-time, but had recently found out that I wouldn't be allowed to, unfortunately. After agonising indecision, I eventually decided to teach part-time: 4 classes of Social Studies and 1 class of English. But no more library, which was sad. Initially, I was a little angry that I wasn't allowed to stay in the library part-time, but I had to remind myself of all the recent whistleblower drama I had been caught up in. I was being given an opportunity to get away from that craziness and into a higher-paying job. I should be happy! Plus it felt so good that someone wanted me. 

Meanwhile, back to reality: It was getting close to the end of the school year and there were lots of special events around the school. Somehow, an English teacher forgot to come teach her class in the library 6th period. Her girls were all there, but there was no teacher. Yikes. Barbara and I did our best to manage the orphan class and run the library simultaneously. In addition, our library boss had been home sick most of the week and was not at school to teach her class, also 6th period. Unfortunately, she forgot to tell the appropriate person to secure a reliever (substitute teacher). About 20 minutes into the period, we got a frantic call at the library. Where was the Library Manager who was supposed to be teaching her class? Do we know what her class was meant to be doing? Where is the video they should be watching? So I hustled the video up to the classroom, only to find absolute pandemonium: One girl had covered her face with stickers (and couldn't see) and had two pairs of pink knickers on her head. Yes, underpants. The rest of the class was - as you can imagine - out of control. Good Lord. I removed the knicker-headed girl from the room, did my best I'm-really-mad-and-I-mean-it voice to settle the class, and turned on the movie, Romeo and Juliet. At least the knickers were clean.

At home that night I had heaps to report : the job offer, 2 unattended classes, and the girl with knickers on her head. Carlin and Kristen had heaps to report, too: They'd taken the train downtown all by themselves, shopped at the outdoor market, took the ferry to Devonport, and had fish & chips for lunch.

Carlin and I had an important conversation later that night. We stayed up late (too late) talking about my feelings that I was "losing him." Part of my sadness came from the fact that he and Kristen would be living in Phoenix, 1200 miles away from Bellingham where all our family gatherings would be. Whenever Curt and I fly back to America, Bellingham would be the logical destination ... but Carlin wouldn't be there. I hardly had any right to blame him, though because we're the ones who moved 7,000 miles away to the other side of the world. Still.  It's hard to let go, I guess.

Road Trip, Day 9

Uh oh. The alarm in our hotel room didn't go off. Luckily, Curt woke up at 7:35 anyway ... but we needed to hit the road at 7:50 to catch the ferry. No time for showers. We just threw everything in the car and started driving.

The drive from Nelson to the ferry terminal at Picton is another winding road over mountains and along the coast. It only takes 1.5 hours to get to Picton, but that was enough time for Nolan to get carsick. He said he wasn't feeling too good. Curt pulled over. Nolan threw up in the bushes. All those pies he'd been eating probably didn't help.

When we arrived in Picton, we found out that the ferry was running an hour late, so it turned out that we had lots of time. Oh well. This gave Curt & Erica a chance to get coffee & tea, while Nolan and I went in search of carsick medicine. The village of Picton is little more than a ferry town, and it serves a few thousand ferry passengers every day, so I was guessing they sell PLENTY of seasick pills. Sure, enough, the chemist had a substantial selection, and recommended SeaLegs. Sold.

During the break at the cafe and the chemist's, we also used Picton's public toilet, which ordinarily would not be noteworthy except it was downright weird. Curt used it first, and reported that it played cheesy Burt Bacharach music while he was in there. Obviously, that made us all want to experience it. When you pushed a button, the door slid open like on Star Trek. There was even an automatic toilet paper dispenser that gave you an exact amount. There didn't seem to be a flusher button, but a recorded voice told me that it would automatically flush when I pushed the button to exit. It felt like something from the Jetsons.

While waiting in line for the ferry, we learned that the crossing today was going to be rough and there was a "moderate" seasick warning. Fortunately, we were freshly stocked with enough seasick medicine for all of us. And it was a good thing we were, for the crossing was indeed choppy. A few of the more miserable travellers were in the bathrooms puking, but we all managed to survive with our stomach contents intact. Oh, and we played Scrabble on the ferry (again) and I won (again).

We arrived in Wellington at about 2:00 and even though everyone would have preferred to take naps, I made them all go to the museum instead. We walked through the shopping district and along the waterfront to get there. After the long ferry ride, it felt good to be out in the fresh air and walk around ... at first. Then we walked for another 2 hours inside the museum, and before long my feet hurt. Still, Erica liked the bush walk and the skeleton of the pygmy sperm whale hanging from the ceiling. Nolan liked the bugs (again) because it had big wetas. I liked the chocolate chip cookie at the cafe.

Back at the hotel after dinner, Curt took some cold medicine for his sniffly and sneezy nose, and combined with the seasick medicine, he fell asleep at 7:15 p.m. It's been a long day. It's been a busy week. It'll be good to be back home tomorrow.

Road Trip, Day 2

It's April 8th, which is Austin's birthday. He'll be 27. Wow. But since it's only yesterday in the States, I'll call him tomorrow on his birthday. Got that?

Today we would be taking a ferry from the North Island to the South Island, which would take about 3 hours. We knew we would have to wake up early to get to the ferry on time, and last night we were worried about getting lost and missing the boat. We seem to have a propensity for that sort of Adventure. So we scouted out the ferry terminal location while we were driving around last night during our Adventure. Not surprisingly, we took a wrong turn and missed it, but we did see where it was and we did see where we should have turned. So this morning when we drove there, we did it right! No Adventures. Hurray! Oddly, we also got stopped at a police checkpoint, looking for drunk drivers ... at 7:00 in the morning!

This morning as I was getting dressed, I made an unfortunate discovery: I had forgotten to bring a hairbrush. Honestly, I must be getting Alzheimers. The last time I had forgotten to pack a brush was when I flew to America for my dad's funeral, but at least I had a good excuse that time. This time I was just plain dumb. I would have borrowed a brush from Erica but she doesn't brush her hair; it's really curly and she finger-dries it. Curt and Nolan don't use combs or brushes or anything. So I was pretty much S.O.L for the time being. Not to mention the fact that Nolan would now have 2 things to tease me about - forgetting shoes and forgetting a hairbrush. I've been making this WAY too easy for him to make fun of me.

Meanwhile, it was a sunshiney day and a beautiful sailing from the North Island to the South Island. Actually, the Cook Strait could be a treacherous crossing at times. There was a famous ferry that sunk about 40 years ago and 51 people died. It's not exactly the Titanic, but nonetheless it is New Zealand's great maritime disaster (#4 Son would like it; he was obsessed with the Titanic for years). I tried not to think about the capsized "Wahine" as I looked out at the innocent blue water sparkling in the morning sun.

On the ferry, we'd scored 2 nice soft couches and since we had 3 hours to kill, we decided to play a game of Scrabble. I ended up winning which is a little unusual but not totally surprising. However Curt came in 4th place out of 4 people and that's NEVER happened. Perhaps he's getting Alzheimers now, too. After Scrabble, Curt, Nolan, and Erica wanted to play Hearts. But Nolan and Erica had forgotten to bring the deck of cards. Hah. I'm not the only one who forgets things. Anyway, Curt bought a deck of genuine InterIslander Ferry cards so they could play Hearts. Strangely, there seemed to be a marked card and it was - of all things - the Queen of Spades. Anyway, Erica led for 90% of the game, then lost dramatically at the end to Curt. I think he was trying to reestablish his gaming superiority after being Buck-Naked-Last in Scrabble earlier.

Once we got back on the mainland, we drove an hour or so to a winery called Forrest Estates. The area outside Blenheim is one of New Zealand's premier wine countries, so there were wineries everywhere. I picked this winery because Nolan's middle name is Forrest, and because they had a sculpture garden and a resident artist! We sat at a patio table in the sunshine and Curt, Nolan, and Erica tasted all 15 varieties. Eventually we bought 6 bottles between us. And we walked around their property, admiring the sculptures and soaking up the surroundings. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

The Designated Driver (me) drove the next 1.5 hours along a picturesque coastal road. Nobody was carsick yet, knock on wood. We managed to stop at Ohau Point to look at a seal colony. Most of the older seals were really fat and lazy, but a few young ones were goofing around. They sure looked like they had a pretty good life laying there on the rocks, mostly sleeping away the day. I could get used to a life like that. Except for the part about getting eaten by orcas.

I drove on to our destination, Kaikoura, and found the hotel without getting lost, which is always worth mentioning. Kaikoura is a little seaside town famous for its dolphins and its crayfish. We walked around a bit, bought a hairbrush for The Forgetful One, sat on a beach, and listened to the surf. The surf sounded quite different here because it was a rocky, pebbly beach and water has a different sound when tumbling over rocks. Curt and Nolan threw rocks into the ocean and tried to skip rocks until they each threw their shoulders out. Later, we found a little seafood place to go for dinner. Mmmm. They served huge portions and we all ate too much. It was great.

After dinner we had another Adventure, scoping out tomorrow's dolphin destination. We drove all over Kaikoura before we finally found it, only a few hundred meters from our hotel. Nolan and Erica were beginning to tire of all these Adventures, I think.

Our 2nd Son is our 1st Houseguest!

TUESDAY:
Our #2 son, Nolan (a.k.a. Best Bud), and his girlfriend, Erica (a.k.a. Buckwheat), arrived in NZ this morning and will stay for two months. Nolan just graduated with a degree in Philosophy and French, and Erica graduated with a degree in Environmental Science. The trip to NZ is their graduation present from us.

Curt and I took the morning off so we could pick them up at the airport. On the way home from the airport, Curt decided to try a "shortcut" which quickly became an "adventure." We still get lost in this city, which seems to have an aversion to a normal parallel grid street system, preferring their streets to be meandering and illogically organised.

Nolan and Erica had been flying for the last 18 hours, so they took showers and naps while Curt and I returned to work. Except Curt hopped on his bike and rode off with my car keys AGAIN so I couldn't return to work right away. I had to wait for him to bring the keys back home 30 minutes later. Brother. Both of our cars were sitting in the driveway, but both sets of keys were in Curt's pocket. WHY DOES HE NEED SO MANY KEYS WHEN HE'S RIDING A BIKE?!?

Later, when Nolan and Erica woke up, they called me at work 3 times to find out 1. where the nail clippers were (in the jewellery box), 2. where the nearest cash machine was (turn right at the end of our street) , and 3. whether we locked our door (yes). I like getting lots of calls at work. It makes me feel needed. But I kept wishing I was home with them instead of at work.

Curt and I both got home at 5:30 and we took them for a walk along St. Heliers beach while our dinner was cooking in the oven. It was a nice way to introduce NZ to them.

WEDNESDAY:
I took Nolan driving after work today, his first time driving on the "wrong" side of the road. He did pretty well, and just needs more practice getting used to the gearshift on the left, and figuring out the roundabouts. We drove a few circles around the neighbourhood, which also helped them learn their way around. I made Erica mapigate us back home.


THURSDAY:
Nolan and Erica drove the car to the nearby train station and took the train downtown. Driving and parking downtown is NOT a good idea for beginner drivers. They found a nice market and had a good time even though it was raining most of the day. That evening, we took them to a new shopping mall and looked at wool sweaters for Nolan and rain jackets for Erica. Nolan really wants a wool sweater from New Zealand, where wool is our biggest export. After all, this country has 4 million people and 40 million sheep!


SATURDAY:
Today we decided to go on a little day trip to Rangitoto Island, a dormant volcano in Auckland's Hauraki Bay. It's the youngest of about 50 volcanic cones and craters in the Auckland area. We drove and parked downtown, which turned out to be a bad idea even for us experienced drivers (we had a few Adventures looking for a car park). We also wandered through another market, looking at wool sweaters for Nolan. Then we caught a ferry out to Rangitoto and enjoyed the 45-minute ride, the view and the sunshine. At least it wasn't raining today.

There's a variety of trails on the island and we'd chosen the 1-hour (2 km) hike to the summit so we could be back at the dock in time for the return ferry. The hike was harder/longer than I thought ... maybe because I'm turning 50 in a few weeks? Or maybe because we gained 259 meters (850 ft) in elevation? But I charged ahead - with a lot of complaining on the way such as, "I'm too old for this!" - and made it to the top. We were all really sweaty and got a good workout! Erica especially likes the scientific and nature stuff like black volcanic rocks all around and exotic birds & plants. She even takes pictures of lichen.

After the ferry ride back to the city, we drove home and stopped on the way at Fishmonger for authentic fish-n-chips take-away wrapped in paper. Mmmm.

The last thing to do that evening was read the paper while Curt gave me a foot rub. Ahhh.




SUNDAY:
Nolan and Erica went to church with us. I made Erica drive us there while I mapigated. It was her first time on the motorway. They're both getting the hang of it fine.

Everyone in the choir was excited to meet them, and during the service the choir director went up to the microphone and introduced them to the whole congregation. Nolan doesn't really like church very much, but kept busy doing an Easter word search that was on the children's page. They both enjoyed talking to people after church during tea. They said afterwards that it was the most they'd talked to Kiwis since they'd been here.

After church, our neighbour came over hurriedly to ask me to watch their two little boys while he took his wife to hospital for x-rays. She'd fallen off her bike when their dog darted in front to chase ducks. I had fun hanging out with their kids while Curt, Nolan, and Erica went grocery shopping. Nolan predicted that he'd be able to get Curt to buy all sorts of crap since I wouldn't be there. Just like old times. They also went to the top of One Tree Hill to see a nice view of Auckland and how it's laid out. Eventually everyone came home successfully - Annette's arm wasn't broken but in a sling anyway. Nolan didn't talk Curt into buying too much crap.

Nolan and Erica are leaving tomorrow for 4 days in Rotorua. They'll get to see geysers, hot thermal springs, Maori performances, etc. And I'm sure they'll have lots of "adventures."

Sydney, day 6

Today we are heading to the beach town of Manly, which involves taking a ferry from Circular Quay. This is our substitute for a tourist-style tour of Sydney Harbour since we're too cheap to pay for a ride on a real tour boat. We like ferries better. We walk along the pedestrian corso that links Manly ferry terminal (which faces west to Sydney Harbour) to Manly beach (which faces east to the Tasman Sea). There's even an arts & crafts market going on today that we peruse. Curt's mildly interested in buying some shorts while we're here, but honestly, we're just not very good shoppers. I have a Kiwi friend who came to Sydney with her two teenage daughters specifically to shop for a week. They'd be disappointed to hear how much shopping we've done on this trip, which is next to nothing. I'm pretty much a failure at being a shopper. It's just not in me.

As we wander down Manly's beach, Curt finds a modern sculpture to sketch. It looks a lot like the sculptures along the boardwalk in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (which he also sketched). I dutifully assume my role, sitting on some rocks, dangling my feet in the water, and reading a book. Ahhh. That's what vacations are all about. I'm well into my second book already, and brought along a third one just in case.

After the sketch, we walk farther to Shelly Beach which is even nicer and more secluded than Manly beach. Despite our aforementioned ineptitude at shopping, Curt scores a major success at a small gift shop near Shelly Beach that happens to have a perfect black ceramic pot for our bomb collection. Before you report us to the elite anti-terrorism squad, let me tell you the story of our bomb collection: My brother gave us a black ceramic pot for Christmas 18 years ago, and as we opened the box, it looked just like the size and shape of a cartoon-type bomb (but without a fuse). One of our boys cried out, "Cool! Uncle Scott gave us a bomb!" Uncle Scott immediately zoomed to the top of the list of best uncles ever, because what could be better for Christmas than a genuine bomb when you're 8 years old? Ever since then, we've called that pot our "bomb", and we began to collect matching black pottery bombs on our all travels. We have to be extra careful these days not to call our pottery a bomb in the airport as in "Do you have the bomb in your carry-on honey?" or "Don't let the bomb break." This kind of slip-up could have catastrophic consequences.



After securing our most important purchase of the trip, we climb some steep steps to a lookout over North Head. It has another stunning view of the Tasman. We keep following more trails, through a hole in a rock wall, and ultimately into a couple of dead ends. We've been walking for 90 minutes now, without knowing where we are or where we're going. We are utterly lost. I have visions of us stranded in the bush for days. With no water. It's HOT out.

Who will ever report us missing? Nobody will even notice our absence until Curt doesn't show up for work Jan 8. I'm convinced we'll get bit by a poisonous spider or attacked by endangered bandicoots (whatever they are). I can see the headlines now: STUPID AMERICAN TOURISTS' BODIES FINALLY FOUND or STUPID AMERICAN TOURISTS LOST IN THE BUSH WITHOUT WATER. Well, we eventually find our way back to civilisation, head towards the ferry terminal and get some nice cold water. And chocolate milk for you-know-who. So I guess we won't be headlines this time.


After that sweaty, nail-biting adventure, I'm ready for something safe. We take the ferry back to the city with three objectives: 1) Salad Nicoise 2) shorts for Curt 3) a movie.

1) Allow me to explain - Curt has been hankering for Salad Nicoise for days. We keep stopping at every restaurant and reading every menu, but can never find Salad Nicoise. (We actually do find it on one menu, but it's at a restaurant that is closed for 2 weeks during the holidays. Drat.) Don't ask me why he's so obsessed with finding Salad Nicoise, but he is. It's like he's pregnant or something and is having cravings. In the end, we settle for tasty exotic salads at David Jones Food Hall and I promise to make him Salad Nicoise when we get home to NZ.













2) We successfully purchase some shorts and two shirts for Curt so I guess we can say we did some shopping here after all. He did, anyway. The shorts are khaki, and the shirts are white and ... white. You have no idea how many white shirts he already owns! He's such an engineer. He wears white shirts and keeps a pen in his pocket - even while he's on vacation. I kid you not. Luckily, it's part of his charm.

3) At the cinemas, I want to go see The Queen. Curt thinks it's about Diana's death and he hates all that "pseudo-celebrity schlock" as he calls it.
Me: "But it's not about Diana's death. It's about the queen's reaction. And Tony Blair's."
Curt: "Mmm hmm." (pause) "Let's see what time James Bond begins"
Fortunately, James Bond doesn't start for 90 minutes and The Queen starts right now! So we buy the popcorn (this step is absolutely essential) and go watch The Queen. Even Curt likes it.

We end our night with a train-bus ride back to the hotel, and polish off the semi-melted ice cream bars we have in the room's mini-fridge that supposedly includes a freezer section but these ice cream bars aren't exactly frozen anymore. Still, that doesn't stop me. I eat it with a spoon. Tastes fine.